Mugshot of Zhang Mier, also known as Shiela Guo, sister of dismissed Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac. —Photo from the Bureau of Immigrations.
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian has raised the possibility of transferring Shiela Guo to another detention facility to make her divulge more information about her supposed sister dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.
At the Kapihan sa Senado on Thursday, Gatchalian was asked if Shiela may be transferred to another facility with the end goal of pushing her to “talk.”
“Puwede rin kasi hindi naman — iba na na-detain ng Senado sa ibang kulungan. Puwede rin ‘yun dahil dito aminado naman tayo mas komportable. Kapag hindi pa rin magko-cooperate o magbibigay ng detalye, puwede siyang makulong sa ibang lugar,” he said.
(It’s possible because it’s different if you get detained in the Senate and in another facility. That’s possible because admittedly, it’s much more comfortable here. If she does not cooperate or give details, she can be detained in another place.)
Gatchalian also said senators cannot immediately trust Shiela despite her claims that she’s innocent.
“Para sa akin, kailangan matuto na tayo kay Guo Hua Ping. Ganoon din ang sinabi niya noong una, ipinanganak sa farm, hindi alam [o] malabo sa kanya paano siya lumaki, hindi siya nag-aral, simpleng tao lang,” he said.
(For me, we need to learn from Guo Hua Ping. She said she grew up on a farm, she doesn’t know her upbringing, she did not study, and she’s a simple person.)
Guo Hua Ping is Alice’s Chinese name.
“So yung narrative ni Shiela pareho kay Guo Hua Ping and we cannot take it hook line and sinker. Hindi natin puwedeng paniwalaan kaagad. Dapat imbestigahan pa nang mas malaliman dahil ang mga dokumento na nakikita namin taliwas o iba sa sinasabi niya,” he explained.
(So Shiela’s narrative is similar to that of Guo Hua Ping and we cannot take it hook line and sinker. We cannot believe it right away. We need to investigate because the documents that we have go against what she claims.)
During the Senate hearing on Tuesday, Shiela said she fled the Philippines with Alice and Wesley Guo via a small white boat.
Despite signing more than 90 documents related to Alice’s companies, Shiela maintained that she had zero knowledge of what Alice did.
A document shared by Gatchalian’s office showed that Shiela served as a corporate secretary and treasurer to some of Alice’s corporations. Shiela earlier claimed that she only managed her family’s embroidery business.
The Department of Justice on Wednesday said it filed charges against Shiela and Cassandra Li Ong, Alice’s business associate.
Shiela is facing charges for violations of Article 150 of the Revised Penal Code for Disobedience to Summons issued by the Senate and Section 22, paragraph (b)(2) of Republic Act No. 11983 for allegedly using a false Philippine passport.
READ: DOJ files charges vs Shiela Guo, Cassandra Ong